St. Philip Neri teacher was among first CHOICE scholarship recipients

Crystal Barthel, a third-grade teacher at St. Philip Neri School in Indianapolis, reviews the work of Carlos Caldera, left. Fernando Zuniga, second from left, waits to talk to Barthel. Barthel was in the first class of recipients of scholarships from the CHOICE Charitable Trust in 1991 when she was a student at Holy Cross Central School in Indianapolis. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Robert Hoy (Special to The Criterion)

When she was in preschool, her ­teachers expressed concern about her ­shyness. They told her mom that if there were 11 children in the class and only 10 cookies for snacks, she’d always be the one to not get a cookie. She just wasn’t ­aggressive.

For the first grade, her mother enrolled her at Holy Cross Central School in Indianapolis. Teachers there were concerned about her shyness, but made it their goal to “open up” this ­intelligent child.

In December of her first year, she had a small speaking part in the school’s Christmas pageant—not an easy task for even the most outgoing of children, but daunting for someone with her personality.

She recited her line without a hitch.

After the pageant, her teacher told her mom a very simple “Merry Christmas.” The little girl had “opened up.”

The shy little girl from the east side of Indianapolis isn’t shy anymore. Today, Crystal Barthel spends her days in the third-grade classroom at St. Phillip Neri School in Indianapolis surrounded by the 13 eager, smiling faces of her students.

“I relate to my students,” she says. “So many of them are new to this country, just learning the language and unsure of just where they fit in today’s complex world.”

Shy kids. Not unlike Crystal when she was their age.

“They speak English all day, and then head home to a completely different ­environment which requires them to revert back to their native language,” she says. “It’s got to be confusing for them.”

Two steps forward, one step back, every day, day in, day out, week in and week out.

Crystal smiles as she thinks about the challenges her students face. She embraces the challenges as her own, working each day to bring a sense of stability to her ­students.

“I loved school,” she says. It’s obvious as she talks about her students that she also loves ­teaching and her students.

Crystal’s mother struggled to pay her tuition at Holy Cross. In 1991, when Crystal was in the sixth grade and her mom was ­desperately trying to find a way to continue to pay tuition, she was told about a new program started by J. Patrick Rooney of Golden Rule Insurance to help families like hers pay tuition at the

non-public school of their choice. She applied and, much to her surprise and joy, Crystal was selected as one of the inaugural Educational CHOICE grant ­recipients.

After eighth grade, Crystal attended Cardinal Ritter Jr./Sr. High School in Indianapolis. After her graduation in 1998, she enrolled at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis to study ­pre-med. But she soon changed her major to elementary education.

“I had always loved school, and knew that I wanted to impart that same love for learning to children,” she says.

Having been the recipient of one of the first CHOICE scholarships in 1991, Crystal now teaches many students who receive them today.

Crystal knows that’s why she is where she is today. She’s there to help her ­students recite their lines in their school Christmas pageant—in whatever form it takes for each of them.

Just like the teachers and staff of Holy Cross Central School did for her.

(Robert Hoy is the executive director of the CHOICE Charitable Trust.) †